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forms many duties. It has always been a
check on the executive.
There is no good in locking the barn door
after the horse is stolen. What this does is
keep an executive honest, if he is inclined
not to be so; and during the 100 years
that we have lived under the present Con-
stitution we have never had any scandal
in the executive department of this State.
I feel that this is a critical hour in the
history of Maryland. The leadership of
this Convention seems to feel that the elec-
torate of Maryland should not be guaran-
teed any rights. My good friend Gerald
Morgan has quoted from the National Mu-
nicipal League that a short ballot gives the
best government. I do not feel that Mary-
land has a long ballot. The attorney gen-
eral, the comptroller, and the governor is
indeed a short ballot when compared with
other states.
If there had been any scandal in the op-
eration of the Board of Public Works or
the comptroller's office, or the treasurer's
office, there might be good reason to abolish
these offices from the constitution and give
their appointment to the governor, but in
the 100 years that they have operated there
has never been a breath of scandal.
What this is doing is concentrating in
the hands of the executive greater power
than now enjoyed by any state executive
on the American continent.
What we are asked to do today is cast
aside the wisdom and the experience of 100
years for a new concept of government
about which we do not know, and lest your
Convention grow confused, let me refer to
the Scripture: "Sayeth the Lord, stand ye
in the ways and seek the old path" — which
is a good way — "and walk therein, and ye
shall find peace for your souls."
What is being proposed is to discard the
old path, which has given Maryland 100
years of good democratic government, for
a path which may be glittering, but which
at the end may bring the total destruction
of democratic government in this State,
and bring corruption and despair to the
people of Maryland.
We are told by those who prepared the
draft that 100 years ago when the Mary-
land Constitution was drafted we were less
than 100 years away from the Crown of
England, and the people wanted to reserve
the right of franchise.
We may be 200 years away today from
the Crown of England, but all over the
world the lights of democratic government
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are disappearing, and what the people in
America are afraid of is totalitarian gov-
ernment such as existed in Nazi Germany
or Soviet Russia.
The constitutions of the various states
in this nation are the greatest bulwark
and strength of democratic government.
I ask this Convention to go slowly in
abolishing from the constitution of this
State offices which for over a century have
proved beneficial to the people.
In the Minority Report we pointed out
that Governor Agnew in his address to the
Constitutional Convention stated: "In my
opinion the Board of Public Works should
be continued, but reconstituted. The Board
provides a forum for public scrutiny and
presents an opportunity for the expression
of legislative views on significant decisions.
I believe the state treasurer, an adjunct of
the legislative arm, should continue as a
representative of the General Assembly."
At the present time the Board of Public
Works has many important responsibilities,
most of them statutory, including the super-
vision of the creation of state debts, the
terms and conditions thereof, and the ad-
vertising and sale of bonds. And let me
call to the Convention's attention that at
the present time in the money markets of
the world bonds of Maryland have a triple
A rating and product the highest return.
In addition, the Board of Public Works
has the approval of all contracts for ex-
penditures from the proceeds of any loan
authorized by the General Assembly. In
other words, if the State were to build a
new office building, it would supervise the
construction from the loan credited by the
State. Supervision of expenditure of all
sums appropriated for the acquisition of
land, building equipment; new construction;
and other capital expenditures except those
in connection with state roads and bridges;
authority over all state property or rights,
having to finance and transfer and dispose
of state personal real property; authority
to borrow upon the credit of the State, and
to issue tax anticipation notes within
legally specified limits; supervision of all
lump sum appropriations not detailed by
law; supervision of the administration of
the general emergency fund and the estab-
lishment of state property tax rates, are
responsibilities of the Board of Public
Works.
I cannot quote to you from any political
scientists from Columbia University, but
I would quote to you from one of the great-
est students of good democratic government
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